Include a boost for families in the budget

By: Posted bySabine Brown Posted inAdvocacy Alert/ Info to Action

The 2019 Legislative session is coming to a close and budget negotiations are in full swing. As lawmakers work on the budget for next year, they have a chance include a boost for working families by restoring the full-value of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Write a letter to your legislators here.

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Restoring the EITC is good for Oklahoma families and our state.

  • The state EITC helps to keep working families out of poverty and improves the health and well-being of low-wage families.
  • EITC households spend a large portion of their refund on basic needs, boosting the local economy.
  • The state EITC helps people keep working despite low wages, which benefits their family, their community, and the economy.
  • For more information on the EITC, visit oksays.com

In 2016, the state Legislature made the Oklahoma EITC non-refundable, so if the credit is more than what a family owes in income taxes the balance won’t be refunded to them. Two in three households that claim the EITC – over 200,000 hard-working families –  lost some or all of their credit. A single parent with 2 children working full-time and making $10 per hour lost $231.  The average loss was $121 per family.

Let’s ask lawmakers to do the right thing and restore refundability of the EITC this session.

For updates on other key bills we’re following, visit the OK Policy Bill Watch.

Published by Sabine Brown

Sabine Brown joined the Oklahoma Policy Institute as Housing Senior Policy Analyst in January 2022. She previously worked at OK Policy from January 2018 until September 2020 as the Outreach and Legislative Director, and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa. Before joining OK Policy she served as the Oklahoma Chapter Leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Sabine also earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Health Science from the University of Oklahoma and was a physician assistant prior to discovering advocacy work. She grew up in Germany but has called Oklahoma home since 1998.